London rent is now so high it's almost impossible for young Britons to save for a home

Tumblr The housing shortage in Britain's capital is so bad that rental prices in London shot up by 11% in 2015, compared to a year earlier.

Basically, the lack of supply and the increasing demand for housing is making property prices soar for buyers and, in turn, those who can't afford to buy a place are stuck renting. And because there is still a distinct lack of properties available to rent, being a tenant is proving ultra costly.

Of course, other cities in the UK also saw a rise in rent because the housing shortage is affecting the whole of the country. For example, seaside commuter city Brighton and Bristol in the west of England saw an 18% year-on-year rise in monthly rent to average £1,078 and £904, respectively.

But this chart provided by HomeLet demonstrates how acute the issue is in London:

Homelet

"Rents in London have continued to rise more quickly than in most areas of the country, but not at quite the pace of 2014," said Martin Totty, CEO at HomeLet's owner, Barbon Insurance Group. "Meanwhile, average rents outside of the capital rose more quickly last year than in 2014.

"As a result, we saw a narrowing of the rent inflation gap between London and the regions last year — is this a trend we will see continuing in 2016 from tenants seeking value for money in the private rented sector?"

But rent is still very high in London, and unless prices significantly drop and/or average earnings rise, the average Londoner is going to continue to struggle unless they split the costs by living with a lot of friends or a partner.

Facebook/tinyhousegiantjourneyConsidering you still need to have some money left over for food, bills, and travel — to name just a few things — it's pretty difficult for Londoners to save up any cash to buy a place.